King CYNAN Tindaethwy of Gwynedd

ABT 0715 - 0811

ID Number: I101307

Notes

Spouse: Matilda, dau of Earl of Flint.

Nennius (or Nemnivus) is the earliest writer to mention Arthur
by name in a historical chronicle.
http://historymedren.about.com/library/who/blwwnennius.htm

What little is known about Nennius comes from the author
himself, who in his preface to his Historia Brittonum describes
himself as a disciple of the chief bishop in Gwynedd, Elvodugus
or Elbotus (died 809). We therefore know that Nennius was
probably Welsh and alive at the turn of the ninth century.

Nennius' sole surviving work is the Historia Brittonum ("History
of the Britons"), a significant early history whose value is
diminished by the tendency of its author to mix in oral
tradition and myth with historical record. Making the Historia
even more difficult for the scholar to navigate is its many
versions and later interpolations. It is uncertain whether the
segment on Arthur was actually written by Nennius or inserted in
one of the later versions. Historians are also unable to reach a
consensus as to whether Nennius composed the Historia Brittonum
himself or adapted and edited an earlier version.

But Nennius does not hold himself up as an authority on times
past, disclaiming in his "Apology":

Many teachers and scribes have attempted to write this, but
somehow or other have abandoned it . . . I pray that every
reader who shall read this book, may pardon me, for having
attempted, like a chattering jay, or like some weak witness, to
write these things, after they had failed. I yield to him who
knows more of these things than I do.

"814 In this year Gruffudd ap Rhun died. And then Griffri ap
Cyngen was slain through the treachery of Elise, his brother.
And Hywel obtained the victory and Cynan was driven into flight
with many of his host slain."
[S3753]